Spark of the Great Strike
On July 16th several firemen and brakemen on The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad refused to work the trains and caused a massive buildup of train traffic in Camden Junction just outside of Baltimore. The strikers gave their reason for striking; a 10 percent wage cut taking affect that day. (NY Times) The strikers overtook trains and there was even a report of a beating taking place of a fireman who continued to work. The company had been prepared for a strike and a force of 40 police officers was sent to disperse the strikers. Strikers refusing to go back to work were quickly replaced and the trains were quickly running again after the delay. The town of Martinsburg, Maryland was to be the focus of many train workers in the area to make a stand. (Bruce) The town was basically built around the railroad. Most of the residents worked for the railroad and were upset that wages were not higher. Residents of the town had resentment for the leaders of the railroad. They believed that the few leaders had too much pay for themselves. This growing dissatisfaction was fueled by the new wage cut. Martinsbu
-NY Times The Railroad Men's War The New York Times, July 19, 1877 -NY Times Railroad Employees on Strike The New York Times, July 17, 1877 - http://www.furman.edu/~benson/col-tom.html , 12/5/99 -NY Times Baltimore and Ohio Strike The New York Times, July 18, 1877 The problem was no longer focused in one spot, troops could no longer end the issue in one trip. These actions in Martinsburg soon spread across the country. Just because a train left Martinsburg did not mean that it was safe from a strike. Many trains were ceased at other stations. The very train that George Zepp had left on was attacked several times at several different towns before being ceased at Keyser, West Virginia. This was the beginning of the first nation wide strike in history. The strike spread to other towns and to the workers there as well. Eventually all were ended just as Martinsburg was. Most stopped by late July, a few continued into August. Some companies brought the railroad wages back up a little. Others advertised for more workers. The strike basically faded away. After sending troops all over to contend with the violence, Hayes ordered to have the troops pulled out of the towns. Although some said this would just cause another flare up in never did. The last day a complaint was given about striking was August 5th. All the violence had stopped, but there were still problems in the nation. Work had to be done to clean up all the damage the strikers had caused. The workers were still hurting from the wage cuts, and the families of those who had died in the strike received no compensation. Eventually those who had been striking against the railroads took a political stand against the leaders of the industry and eventually made an impact. -Bruce, Robert V. 1877: Year of Violence (Chicago, 1959)
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1468
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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